Events

OpenCrime Conference “Uncovering the Role of Women in Crime”

Berlin. June 24, 2019 09:00 – 19:00 CEST

Media coverage of crime often focuses on bloody isolated acts. Instead, it should uncover, analyze and make comprehensible larger contexts, trends and social causes relating to crime and the judicial system.

The OpenCrime Conference hosted by the think tank BuzzingCities Lab is a platform to connect investigative journalists and experts from different fields and discuss trends and tools for investigative reporting on crime.

The first edition of the global conference series takes place within the Media Cluster of the Bosch Alumni Network on 24th June 2019 in Berlin and focuses on investigative reporting on the role of women in crime.

The role of women as affected group, as offenders as well as potential changemakers is often overlooked in media and public debates. But the radicalization and prison rates of female offenders are on the rise globally, as well as hate crimes against women in the digital and non-digital realm. Women can also play a vital role in crime prevention and other anti-crime strategies.

Project objectives
The project goal is to identify challenges as well as content-wise and ethical blind spots in this field and contribute to an improvement of investigative reporting on the role of women in crime.

The conference aims at bringing together members of the Bosch Alumni Network from the media, as well as other relevant representatives from different sectors, to exchange best practice initiatives, brainstorm on the role of women in crime and develop tools and strategies in order to improve media perspectives. In the long run, the conference could enhance investigations, the development of innovative storytelling concepts, but also future project collaborations.

The collaboration of journalists, media experts, academics, practitioners and other experts from the field should enable an interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge. As crime has become a global, transnational challenge, the perspectives of the participants should also represent different cultures and countries, contributing to a cross-border knowledge transfer.

The working methodology of the conference includes the elaboration of trends, challenges and investigative reporting tools through keynotes, panel discussions and interactive workshops.

The outcome of this expert conference is a manual of recommendations on investigative reporting on women and crime, which should provide journalists with insights into the challenges and blind spots related to women in crime and with recommendations for their investigations.